2nd Massachusetts Militia Regiment
The 2nd Massachusetts Militia Regiment, also known as 2nd Mass, is one of the twelve regiments that make up the Massachusetts Militia, led by Colonel Porter. After the loss of South Boston to the enemy, Porter decided that all Militia units should retreat from Boston and evade the skitters until an appropriate way to fight them could be found. Porter divided the Militia into 12 regiments, to each consist of 100 or more fighters and about 200 civilians (at the time the aliens air surveillance seemed to ignore groups of humans below 500 in number) and to all forage and live off the land. One of those regiments was the 2nd Mass. It is made up of 111 fighters and 200 civilians, led Captain Daniel Weaver, whose second in command is Tom Mason who was a military history professor pre war. Its Headquarters is currently the John F. Kennedy High School in the suburb of Acton, Massachusetts outside of Boston. Organization Leadership *Commander- Capt. Daniel Weaver *2nd in Command- Tom Mason Scouts Scouts serve as the regiment's eyes and ears, searching ahead and around the group for supplies and the enemy. They tend to be teenagers as they have to be quick and nimble to avoid being killed or captured. For transportation, they use motorcycles, so they can quickly get away from a situation or alert the regiment of supplies nearby. Hal Mason and Karen Nadler were both Scouts, until Karen was captured by Skitters, now Margaret, who escaped from Pope's Gang, has taken over Karen's role. Dai and Tom also scout for the 2nd Mass. In What Hides Beneath, Weaver scouts with Hal and Tom (but in that instance with the ulterior motive of going to his former home and perhaps remaining there to die. Ultimately he didn't). Fighters Fighters are the regiment’s main troops. There are some former military and police personal among the leadership and the rank and file but most fighters are civilians with no previous military service and training but chose to take an active role in fighting. Those civilians learned how to fight in the months after the invasion, including Tom Mason. They serve every purpose, from defending a position to making raids on supply caches, to attacking the enemy. They are armed with various weapons, ranging from small side arms to assault weapons to heavy machine guns to explosives. A great example of fighters would be Tom Mason's standard team, which is armed both with side arms and assault weapons. Weaponry and Vehicles Most weaponry is a motley mix of firearms taken from various armories, civilian gun stores and private collectors. In case of the 2nd Mass, many guns were obtained from Alex Vlensa, a paranoid weapons collector and former math professor known to Tom Mason. They use assault rifles like AK-47s, M-14s, ranging from vietnam-era M-16s to high-end customized M4A1s; many types of shot guns including double barrel shotguns. Scout/raid squads also prefer various submachine guns like MP5SD, Uzi and UMP for close quarter combat against skitters. As they use whatever is available, some fighters even carry bolt-action hunting rifles or historical carbines. There are many types of handguns from 9mm/.45 ACP automatics and .45 cal. revolvers. They have one large caliber weapon in a .50 caliber M2 Browning machine gun mounted on a mid-1960s era passenger automobile and thusly as a "Technical", a civilian vehicle, usually a pickup truck with a weapon mounted on it. They also have various explosives including hand grenades and blocks of C-4 plastic explosives. They also have a single RPG-2, which Tom Mason uses to destroy an alien ship. Sometime in the three months Tom was missing, they acquired a 20mm AA gun, and from dialogue it can be assumed they also have a Barrett M107. At least the firearms are almost useless against the superior armor of the Mech which are bullet proof and the skitters themselves which are bullet resistant unless you fire in very close quarters to them with a high power weapon, either hand gun or rifle. With Mechs the best that could be hope for is to use the fire from the weapons to detract an attacking Mech from its target of the moment since upon being fired upon it would immediately turn its attention to the attacking source. Skitters would stop and shield itself from a hail of bullets but it won't be killed or injured unless the fire was from a very close source, within five feet it seems. However, former gang leader and criminal John Pope has found a way to smelt down Mech Metal into slugs. The Mech metal has properties like depleted uranium and thusly making these new bullets armor piecing rounds for all types of firearms rendering Mechs and skitters very vulnerable for the first time. What few vehicles there are consists of motorcycles and pre 1980 automobiles that have no electronics. Most post 1980 vehicles that had electronics were rendered useless from the Electromagnetic pulse(s) (EMP) the Aliens deployed at the start of the invasion, which also rendered almost all modern military weapons useless. The aforementioned "Technical" is a Pontiac GTO manufactured between 1965 and 1967 with the M2 Browning machine gun mounted in it. John Pope and his gang tried to extort it out of the 2nd Mass by holding Tom, Hal, Di and other members of the 2nd Mass. hostage (His effort failed). Notable Members *Captain Jameson (Former Commander/Deceased) *Captain Daniel Weaver (Commander) *Tom Mason (Second in command/currently CIA) *Anne Glass (Doctor) *Lourdes (Medical Assistant, civilian) *Dai (Scout/Fighter) *Hal Mason (Scout/Fighter; Tom Mason's first born son) *Karen Nadler (Scout/Captured by Skitters) *Margaret (better known as Maggie) (Fighter/Scout, formerly Pope's Gang) *John Pope (Fighter, Formerly Pope's Gang, weapon manufacturer, Chef, Jack of All Trades) *Michael Harris (Former Doctor/Deceased) *Click (Fighter/Deceased) *Jimmy Boland (Fighter) *Anthony (Fighter, former Boston Police Department officer/badly injured after the attack on Boston) *Mike Thompson (Fighter/Deceased) *Parker (Fighter/Deceased) *O'Brian (Fighter/Deceased) *Fuller (Fighter/Deceased) *Lt. Danner (Fighter) *Cal (Fighter) *Ryerson (Fighter) *O'Neil (Fighter) *Schlatter (Fighter) *Gibson (Fighter/Deceased) *Tector (Fighter) *Lyle (Fighter) Civilians *Uncle Scott (Children's teacher, communications researcher; currently trying to revive radio communications by restoring pre transistor age radios) *Sarah *Ben Mason (Tom Mason's second son,and former harnessed child) *Matt Mason (Tom Mason's third son) *Rick Thompson (Mike Thompson's son, former harnessed child) *John Pope (former criminal, maverick, prisoner, chef, now chief armorer of the 2nd Mass) *Aunt Kate *Charlotte *Frank *Elyse *John *Eli Russell (Formerly, captured by skitters) *Jeff Russell (Formerly, Eli's father, presumed dead) *Mary Russell (Formerly, Eli's mother, presumed dead) Locations *Boston,MA *Bunker Hill *Acton Armory *John F. 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